Calgary Minute: Stampede Support, New Communities, and a Climate Plan Debate

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• On Monday, at 9:30 am, there will be a meeting of the Event Centre Committee. The agenda is not fully fleshed out and the update to be discussed is unavailable at this time. On Tuesday, there will be a Combined Meeting of Council at 9:30 am. The agenda is lengthy and includes discussion about the Neighbourhood Streets Policy, an anti-vehicle, pedestrian-centred policy that would replace the previous traffic calming strategy. Also up for discussion is the City’s application for the federal government’s Building Safer Communities funding.
  
  
• Debate on the “Calgary Climate Strategy - Pathways to 2050” will finally take place at Tuesday’s council meeting, after being delayed in June. The 99-page net-zero strategy carries a cost of $87 billion ($175,000 per Calgary household!) and includes such “plans” as ensuring 100% of all vehicles registered in Calgary are zero-emissions vehicles, all new buildings are built to a net-zero standard, and 60% of all trips taken are done by walking, wheeling, or transit. A new municipal climate tax was listed as a method of funding this “plan.” Thousands of Calgarians have already signed our petition to show their opposition to this plan. If you haven’t already, please consider making your voice heard in advance of Tuesday’s meeting if you don’t want the City to implement this expensive plan.
  
  
• The Infrastructure and Planning Committee meets on Thursday at 9:30 am. No agenda is available yet. Also on Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Calgary Planning Commission at 1:30 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting either.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The Infrastructure and Planning Committee had a marathon meeting, with the City’s growth plan taking centre stage. City developers presented their cases for 19 new proposed communities. The population of Calgary is expected to grow by 88,000 people by 2026, which, according to a City report, necessitates 44,000 more homes. More than 80 members of the public spoke at the meeting, some in opposition to the new communities, saying urban sprawl does not fit with the City’s climate plan. Ultimately, the Committee voted to bring five communities forward to Council for discussion in September.
  
  
• The federal government announced more than $10 million in funding to support the Calgary Stampede. Last year’s Stampede ran at half capacity and logged an operating loss of $8.3 million. This year, the parade is back, concerts are scheduled, and all signs point to a booming 10 days for the city’s economy.
  
  
• The bridge at 9th Ave SE is finally complete. The bridge connects Inglewood and East Village and will see roughly 19,000 vehicles crossing it each day. Construction took place over the last three years, resulting in traffic delays as the previous, century-old bridge was replaced.

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